Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

[TOP PICK] [$] 6:00 pm ($15 including one drink; reservations via calling Cornelia Street Cafe at 212.989.9319 highly recommended): Four superb writer/performers tell personal stories. Three of them are true…but one is a pack of lies. Then the audience asks questions to try to figure out who’s fibbing. Tonight’s yarn-spinners are Johanna Clearfield (SNL’s Weekend Update), Sharon Spell (Shrink), Brad Lawrence (Monsters In The Wood), and Gabrielle Selz (The New York Times) joining wonderful host Andy Christie (The New York Times, Moth GrandSlam Champion) at The Liar Show

[TOP PICK] 7:00 pm ($10): A musical about “a pious Pope framed for a crime he didn’t commit…betrayal, Holy War, foot-stompin’ musical numbers” and everything else it takes “to entertain the Hell right out of you” in Pope: The Musical

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($10): Genius improvisor Christina Gausas and friends she originally made in Chicago—which include writers & performers from 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show—plus a rotating cast of stellar visitors, all joyously declaring Let’s Have a Ball

8:00 pm ($10): NY stand-ups Jamie Lee (who’s also the producer and host), Baron Vaughn (in one of his final NYC appearances before moving to LA), Phoebe Robinson, and more performing atKarma Lounge for a show benefiting an animal shelter: Diamonds in the Fluff

8:00 pm ($5): Will Nunziata and Jerry Miller performing a two-man sketch show designed as a love letter to the dystopian films of the 70s, 80s, and 90s:” Dystopia Gardens

[TOP PICK] 9:00 pm ($10): One of the gutsiest and most hilarious troupes in comedy history—and the Cage Match Champion for two years in a row!—genius improvisors Death by Roo Roo

[MEGA-TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 10:00 pm ($17 online or at the door with discount codeFBKISC): Genius improvisors from Chicago delivering one of the funniest shows you’ll ever see by making up a play on the spot using the language and themes of the Bard. This is the finest improv troupe in the world, and one of the best comedy shows of any kind, anywhere. Tonight is the third of a five-night NYC run, with every evening utterly different from the last. Try to catch every single performance of the breathtakingly skilled Improvised Shakespeare Company

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 10:30 pm ($15 both online and at the door using discount codePISANO, otherwise $20): A Chicago-based troupe that’s wowed audiences around the world with their skill at creating a completely improvised hour-long musical. The plot and characters, the musical accompaniment; even the song lyrics and the “choreography” are made up on the spot, with no pre-planned structure. Come see why BWC won a FringeNYC Award last August for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Event at the magical Baby Wants Candy

[TOP PICK] 10:30 pm ($10): A special one-night-only parody of Lost, packed with top comedy talents: Dharma Station

[TOP PICK] Midnight ($5): One of the most fascinating performers in comedy hosting his own extravaganza—which goes beyond a stage show to have the makings of a hit MTV series—tonight celebrating his birthday!: The Chris Gethard Show